Pascal Wehrlein is pinning his hopes of adding to his 2017 points tally on Sauber’s major upgrade which is currently scheduled to arrive in time for the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The German scored points in Austria and Azerbaijan to elevate Sauber above McLaren into ninth place in the constructors’ championship.
Wehrlein informed Formula1.com that his C32 will remain largely unchanged for this weekend’s British GP, but there will be a complete overhaul for Hungary.
“We have nothing new on the car this weekend,” he said. “And for about two to three races we have been struggling with the performance.
“But for Budapest, we are set for a big upgrade. Almost all the car – or all the aero side – will be new, so that should give us a good performance boost.
“If what the data shows really can materialise we could be on a good go. So the plan does dive through the Silverstone weekend and look forward to Budapest.”
Wehrlein expressed his delight with the news that former Renault boss Frederic Vasseur will become Sauber team principal on Monday.
“I really respect Fred,” he added. “I used to work with him in DTM. He had a team there when I drove there in 2015.
“He has so much experience in motorsport – and in many other ventures outside racing. He is a very successful man. He could help Sauber – he could be very good for the team.
“We now have two races left before the summer shut-down and in the second half of the season the team will focus on next year, so I think you will not see his ‘touch’ too much this year.”
